"This was no act of God that killed these six people. People don’t die from the cold unless they are not provided adequate shelter. These Palestinians used to have homes. The UN estimates that Israel has damaged or destroyed 92 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza since October 2023."
Dear CBC and Thomson Reuters editorial newsrooms,
I am writing to express my outrage with the inaccurate, unfair and inconsistent standards in your coverage of wars. I am requesting that you change the title of your recent article, "At least 6 dead across Gaza as rainstorm sweeps away tents, exposes children to cold" (January 13, 2026). The headline and article erase Palestinian identity, a form of anti-Palestinian racism while also simultaneously failing to provide crucial context for what caused it.
This was no act of God that killed these six people. People don’t die from the cold unless they are not provided adequate shelter. These Palestinians used to have homes. The UN estimates that Israel has damaged or destroyed 92 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza since October 2023.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been forced to live in tents and other makeshift shelters through cold, wet, punishing winters along the coast. Yet you use language like “At least 31 winter-related deaths reported” throughout the article.
Palestinians struggle to survive in primitive and dehumanizing conditions created by the Israeli state. December saw an average of 140 aid trucks allowed into Gaza each day instead of the promised 600. There is almost no clean water, electricity or sewage treatment. Israel blocks shipments of construction supplies, including cement and steel, shelter materials, water infrastructure and fuel so nothing can be rebuilt.
They keep palestinians on the edge of famine and ensure widespread malnutrition. In October, some 9,300 children under 5 were diagnosed with acute malnutrition according to UNICEF. The frequency of bombings and shootings may have slowed slightly since the supposed ceasefire; however, Palestinians are being intentionally starved and allowed to freeze to death by Israel not by the climate.
The title of this article should read, “At least 6 more Palestinians freeze to death across Gaza, as Israel continues to deny access to adequate tents and supplies amid winter rainstorms”.
You seem capable of getting this right as evidenced with articles like, “Russian attacks in Ukraine kill 4 as U.S. rebukes Moscow for 'escalation' amid peace talks” (January 13 2026), leading me to conclude this is an intentional choice to mislead the reader and shelter Israel from accountability.
As a public broadcaster, CBC has a responsibility to provide rigorous, contextual, and impartial journalism. This article falls short of that standard. I urge you to amend the piece to reflect a more balanced and evidence-based account of these events.
Sincerely,
Nikki Mutch
Media Advocate
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East